Week of 9th February, 2004

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Monday, 9th February

Well, we've spoken to the veterinary surgeon, and she is of the opinion that Tom doesn't need the full operation yet. She will administer an enema to clear him out, and they will keep him overnight for observation. Meanwhile, we will try to manage the problem by altering Tom's diet - which will mean altering Tabitha's diet as well, since they eat from each other's food bowls. And we still need to teach Tom how to use the new cat flap...

Mailcall: 84 messages, 40 rejected by rule, of the 44 (8 list mail) 10 were valid (7 list)

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Tuesday, 10th February

I collected Tom from the vet this morning, at Jane's insistence - before the aerial rigger was due to attend. Of course, he turned up while I was out, and just ripped the entire dish, brackets and all, off the wall and scarpered with it, charging us UKP47 for the privilege. That, and the vet bill of nearly UKP500 left a sour taste in my mouth, but to some extent, it's my fault - I should have told Jane what I wanted, or else not gone out until the rigger had been and gone.

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Wednesday, 11th February

Jane is off to Leicester with Katy for another University Open Day, so I'm here waiting for the new TV to arrive - the while making sure Jenny gets to school on time. And that last is a saga - you have to keep prompting her, since she seems to be unaware of the passage of time.

The TV finally arrived about 12:15, the delivery company having said, "sometime between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m." Precise, eh?

The cardboard box is too awkward for one person to carry, but it is possible (just!) to move the actual TV unaided, as I found. After you've got the TV out, the box is manageable single-handed.

By 5 p.m. I had the thing set up, tuned in, and sitting on the supplied stand - which has two shelves under the TV platform, so that I could move the various other boxen. The DVD, $ky digibox, and 2 VHS decks are now stacked on those shelves, and wired up so that everything works. All I have to do now is put a cover (glass or plastic) over the front of the shelves to keep little fingers out. And I'll have to do that soon - like tomorrow.

And Jane doesn't like the TV - it's too big, and it's silver. Katy does, though. Although she objects to where I've put the $ky box - the remote doesn't work, because of the cushions stacked in front of the system, to keep small fingers out.

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Thursday, 12th February

Preparations for Jenny's trip to Berlin are nearly complete, as are mine for this weekend's trip to Wales to visit my Mum. There's just a little shopping to do... Did I say little? Jane has handed me a long list, regardless of the fact that she (and I!) have very little disposable cash between us at this moment.

But at least I'll have 2 and 2 halves quiet days down in Wales.

Mailcall: 46 messages, 14 rejected by rule. Of the 32 downloaded (of which 15 were list mail) 26 were valid (15 list) That's since Monday - only 6 false negatives. The 14 rejects were probably sent to my old e-mail address, which is blackholed. Brightmail is really doing it's thing.

One of the valid messages (the only one addressed to me personally (the others are to family or list) was from my brother-in-law, Simon, who works for HM Customs and Excise. There is a report circulating at his workplace about a credit card scam, which works like this -

J. Random Scammer 'phones up, claiming to be working for Visa (or Mastercard, both companies are affected) and asks questions about a recent suspicious transaction on your account (which transaction, by the by, is bogus anyway) then says something like, "OK, we will issue a credit to your card." He then reads off the card number, and asks for the 3 digit AVS code on the back. This is what he's really after - with that number in his possession, your account is wide open to Card Not Present fraud.

The credit card companies will never ask for any numbers on your card - they already know them - and have issued alerts. But the information merits wider dissemination.

Although this scam hasn't yet spread to debit cards, I make no doubt it will, in time.

The trip to Wales was easy, barring a small tailback on the M4 near Newport, at the approach to the Brynglas tunnels, which seems to be the usual suspect for the evening "rush" hour. I put that in quotes, because it's definitely small beer compared to the London version. Too late to visit Mum this evening, I'll go tomorrow.

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Friday, 13th February

Mum seems well, but she's prone to bouts of confusion. This time, for instance, she seemed to be thinking that she was on a train, and asking why wasn't it moving. Or else, she wanted to go and catch a train, I'm unsure which - she wasn't entirely coherent. But at least she recognised me immediately.

No sign of the new computer yet. The shop did say that there was likely to be 2 to 3 weeks delay, while they waited for parts, and it's only 2 weeks so far. Note the difference in information, compared to the TV people - everything up front. I like that.

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Saturday, 14th February

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Sunday, 15th February

A nice quiet couple of days. Mum's confusion comes and goes, but that's par for the course, I fear.

Yesterday, I got some bad news. My cousin John, previously unmentioned in these annals, has been suffering from cancer. He has been on chemotherapy, but finally lost the struggle on Thursday evening. He was my cousin Roger's elder (half) brother, son of Mum's sister by her first husband. The funeral will be next week, and I fear I won't be able to attend, even if I hadn't been receiving signals saying "Don't come" from Roger.

Another easy trip back to London, as well.

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